Regular Site back up... a long time ago

Oops, forgot to post this for any of you who found us through the Blogger world. I just use this site for back-up, and right now I'm not using it. You should visit our regular site instead -- it's got more stuff!

jonandnic dot com

It's Moving Day!

Left for so long without my own computer, I've taken to downloading pictures of other people's Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door set-ups. It's like my version of online porn. I don't know who's this is, but their computer is almost like mine. I don't have the matching monitor, but my Sony is pretty nice. And I picked up the Apple Pro Speakers for $10 online (they're Harmon Kardon made, and sold for $249) a little while ago, but haven't had anything to plug them into. I've also got a Griffin PowerMate that I'm dying to use in iMovie.

I won't have to wait much longer though, to be re-united with my other curvaceous companion(the first one being, of course, my wife). The movers are at our house as I type this, unloading our stuff. Nicole has strict instructions to move the correct boxes over to my desk, but leave the unpacking and setting up to me. I took the day off on Monday -- when the stuff was supposed to arrive, but ended up going into work. I couldn't justify asking for another day off again today, so I'm at work, while Nic manages the movers. Which is fine, because I'd probably just get in the way at home... and all I really care about is my Mac -- although having couches to sit on will be nice.

In fact, it'll be nice having all our stuff. It can finally start to feel like home, instead of a temporary apartment that we're squatting in.

Update: I couldn't wait, so I ran home at lunch and set my baby up. She's purring like a kitten -- well actually, humming like a Wind Tunnel, because my particular model happens to be the loudest Mac EVAR. The couches look great in our living room, and it really does feel better. I hope to have the network and web server up by this evening some time.

New Project Idea

How about a plug-in (COM add-in, to be more accurate) for Microsoft Outlook that allows you to publish a calendar to a vCal file, and maybe even to a WebDAV location? I think that would be really handy...

A Geek Apart

I miss my own computer! I've got a Dell laptop from work, and even though it's a very expensive machine, it's really, really sucky. I miss the elegance and sexy curves of my Mac. I also miss having my own server, and my own e-mail, and my own blog. And the free wireless Internet I've been mooching disappeared yesterday. Our stuff got delayed for 2 days, because apparently you Ontarians are experiencing some snowy weather. Fortunately, Nic's here now, to enjoy our empty apartment with me.

That's not the only thing that's gone wrong lately either. In fact, pretty much everything that could go wrong has, or is threatening too. It was pretty scary seeing doom on the horizon, but my parents helped us out, and gave me some perspective. And of course, everything seems better now that I have my wife with me again. So I'm sure now that it'll all work out eventually. We'll just be in purgatory a little bit longer.

I did manage to get a fair bit accomplished last week, when I wasn't crippled with fear or loneliness. We had to leave my very nice desk (actually, it's my brothers) behind, due to it's incredible weight and the amount it would have costs us to move it. So I've been trolling Craigslist for deals. I found a decent desk for $75 and managed to talk the guy into helping me move it. I also found a complete bedroom set for the guest room for $75 -- although we're using the dresser in our room until we can afford to furnish it. I moved all of that stuff in myself, including getting the dresser up the stairs into the room.

We still have a 13" Walmart TV, and probably will for a while longer, but we're expecting some income tax back in a couple weeks, so hopefully we can use some of that for a TV. We watched the Super Bowl last night (well, I mostly just watched the commercials) on our tiny TV, on our little wooden couch. But Nic made me a nice meal, so that made it a better evening than most.

This has been a really hard month for both of us. And February isn't going to be a stellar one either. Our old friend Sandra came online the other day and told us that we were "an inspiration." Which was really sweet, but really wrong. We're pretty much discovering that we're nothing, and totally incapable of surviving things like this. My dad assures me that we've taken on a lot... moving to a new country and a new apartment, figuring out a new banking system, figuring out insurance, and buying two cars in there as well... and that we should expect some rough spots. But I seriously didn't think it would be this tough. I don't know how people do this kind of stuff without faith. I'm pretty sure I'd have gone crazy by now if I wasn't sure that God was guiding us and providing for us. And we sure do appreciate the friends and family He's put in our lives to help us and encourage us along the way... you know who you are!

Scared

For the first time I'm starting to wonder if maybe we've bitten off more than we can chew down here...

Temporary Blog

Well I tried, but I really can't go without blogging this long! I have opinions! They must be heard!!
So I'm back to Blogger until I get the site up and running. Which will still likely be another week or so. The movers picked our stuff up on schedule on Monday, but said the earliest it will arrive at our new home is next Monday. So I'll still have to find and unpack the server, set it up, find out our new IP address (and hope it's static) and re-point the website. And ya, I can't wait until then to blog -- that's just way too long.

I said, in my last post before the server got unplugged, that our purgatory was coming to an end. While that's true, I don't think we were quite prepared for how tough this last week would be. Not having regular access to e-mail makes communicating harder, and of course the Internet went down at home when the equipment got packed up. Luckily Nic learned a trick or two from me about finding an open access point and getting free wireless, so we still have MSN to keep in touch. But now, of course, Nic is homeless. Yesterday was the last day of our lease on our apartment. It was mostly empty by then anyway, save for the single bed Nic was sleeping. She and her parents finished painting and cleaning and wrapping stuff up there, and then they took her bed away and she "moved out." Last night she went down one floor and stayed with her sister. Tonite I think she'll be going to stay with some good friends in St. Thomas until the day before our stuff arrives in New York -- there really isn't enough here (enough food, furniture or money) for both of us to live here until then.
And for me, having Nic back in Canada in our apartment meant I wasn't really here. I still had a home, and I was just visiting. Now that our stuff is on a truck somewhere between Ontario and New York, what little I have here really is... all I have. There aren't even any friends I can go hang out with when the oppressive emptiness gets too overwhelming. I've taken to going to Walmart just to be around people.

That's not a permanent condition though. In fact, Monday I got to try out a bit of what our social life might be like once we're settled when I went to a small group meeting. There were 3 other couples there, around our age, and they were very friendly and welcoming. We had some good discussion on the material, and best of all, the pastor from our church made his own videos to go along with the book so that we didn't have to watch the cheesy ones that usually come with it. Our church here has a hard core multimedia team, and they put together these incredible video clips that look really professional. They make my iMovie experiments look like the doodlings of a toddler.
Plus we've still got friends at home! Dennis and Steph are coming down at the end of February to hang out with us. We're going to hit New York City and do all the tourist stuff, and find our way around with them, because two weeks after that Brian and Melissa are coming to do the same thing! My social skills might have completely deteriorated by then, but I'll be practicing up at Walmart! If anyone else wants to plan a trip, just drop us a line.

Speaking of which, we have a home phone now, as well as cable. We got digital phone service through the cable company, which is like a hybrid between VoIP and analog service, and the end result is free long distance anywhere in North America. So if you want to chat, drop me (or us) a line and I'll call you back so it doesn't cost you anything! The number is 280-5765, and the area code is one number less than our old one.